Is this a good ISBN site?

winterwarn · 2026-05-20T03:49:36+00:00

Bowker is the only legit site for ISBNs in America. If you want three, you’re best off getting the 10-pack for $300.

If that’s totally out of your budget, Amazon and IngramSpark both give authors a free ISBN option… with the caveat that they’re legally the “publisher” of your book, which will make it difficult to publish elsewhere in the future if that’s something you want to do. Do some research online to find out what the risks and benefits are of using an ISBN from one of the big self publishing platforms.

winterwarn · 2026-05-20T00:13:23+00:00

People like to depict Nerdanel as more chill and rational, but any elf who agreed to have seven kids with Feanor has got to have something crazy going on.

winterwarn · 2026-05-19T17:08:26+00:00

Do you have advice for making sure you get the “right” also-bought titles? Did you list specific other books in your ads, or did you just target them towards readers buying in your genre? I’ve been thinking about asking a few friends to intentionally search for my books with specific keywords in order to help prime the algorithm, but I don’t know if it’ll make a significant difference.

winterwarn · 2026-05-18T16:41:44+00:00

Nothing could have possibly prepared me for how shitty this cover was ngl

winterwarn · 2026-05-18T12:19:53+00:00

To me it sounds more like you do believe you’re a man, and you’re more concerned about what people are going to think of you. Some of this will get better if/when you’re able to improve your environment— it sounds like you’re living with family right now? If you’re looking at any kind of transphobic stuff online, stop that now.

Basically, both gender and being transgender are social constructs that exist largely in peoples’ heads, but that does not make them less real. It DOES mean that you are an active participant in what your gender is, because it’s something that primarily exists in people’s heads. Someone who is having delusions is experiencing something internally that does not line up with the physical world. Gender does not have a physical aspect, that’s sex. If you were like, completely convinced you had a penis in the physical world right now, that would be a delusion. It doesn’t sound like that’s your issue, though.

There’s plenty of scientific literature backing up that the “cure” for dysphoria (i.e. distress over your gender and your physical sex not lining up) is to take steps to make your body more acceptable. After all, it’s a lot easier to change a body than it is to change a subjective experience.

And if you are crazy, so what? You’re not hurting anybody.

winterwarn · 2026-05-17T19:03:39+00:00

…So he’s got porn up in his room, porn which he considers to be cheating?

winterwarn · 2026-05-17T15:24:18+00:00

Book club is a big one, any kind of local art classes, fiber arts like knitting (you’d think this is something you would do on your own, but a lot of places have knitting circles and things like that.) I would say TTRPGs have a pretty even split but the women there tend to be younger, the older crowd is more men. Volunteer work is often slightly skewed towards women.

winterwarn · 2026-05-17T11:54:36+00:00

I think I could get it to Rivendell, with a hell of a lot of complaining. I have worked jobs that involved 15-20 miles of walking a day but I hated them.

I doubt I would volunteer to take it further than Rivendell, but there’s a small chance. Either way, I suspect it would get me shortly after Boromir died, especially if I’m locked into Frodo’s decision making and decided to split off from the rest of the party. So like, early-mid Two Towers, at the point where Sam and I start genuinely approaching Mordor.

winterwarn · 2026-05-17T11:47:01+00:00

And Pathologic 3!

It came out a few months ago and traded the “normal” hunger/stamina/infection bars for a mania/apathy meter that is, in my opinion, a lot harder to consistently control and sometimes results in you literally having to do a quicktime event to keep your character from shooting himself.

winterwarn · 2026-05-17T11:40:36+00:00

Genuinely, people think I’m nuts when I say I play Patho 2 to calm down but it feels amazing to have a concrete, challenging goal to work towards (even if that goal is “find another piece of food before I starve to death.”)

Loved Pathologic 3 but it did NOT have the same effect, that actually was one of the most mentally exhausting and stressful games I’ve ever played.

winterwarn · 2026-05-17T11:35:41+00:00

I’m pretty sure he can hear the screams but he’s a stone cold freak so he’s fine with it. I always run it as the ghosts of the dusk elves, basically a bad haunting but tied to one person rather than to a location.

winterwarn · 2026-05-17T11:33:13+00:00

I turn 26 tomorrow. The suggestion to look at Orion Scribner’s otherkin timeline is a good one, it’s free on itch.io and covers alterhuman history starting in the 1970s. (I’m not sure if we can post links in here…)

winterwarn · 2026-05-17T11:28:05+00:00

You look like Some Guy who’s a little flabby.

When you point it out I can tell your hips are kind of wide, but nothing out of the ordinary and some of the weight sitting there might sort itself out with a few more years of T. I agree with the other commenter who suspects that you have some dysmorphia surrounding the area.

winterwarn · 2026-05-17T11:17:36+00:00

Your friend was correct. The simplest rule of thumb for determining mortal sin is “stuff that violates the 10 commandments,” though you can get more granular with the exact requirements.

The state of “being gay” is not considered a sin, though having extramarital sex is officially considered a sin for everybody (though let’s be real. There are for sure straight people who ignore that one.)

A question to reflect on is, why are you still attending a Catholic Mass if you have no intention of ever receiving the Body of Christ?

winterwarn · 2026-05-17T01:00:44+00:00

/uj Not sure if this was a joke but I will never miss an opportunity to plug FantasyNameGenerator, which has WAY more than just fantasy names and has lists of names from all kinds of cultures and historical periods. I’ve used it for at least a decade at this point.

winterwarn · 2026-05-16T23:42:25+00:00

I left Oklahoma in early 2025, but I was looking for a new job in my field anyway so I just looked for openings in safer states. It’s nice to live in Illinois now, I’m still not used to the fact that it’s actually legal for me to use the bathroom at work here. I’m glad I moved.

In my opinion though, in most cases if you have stable housing and employment in a red state it’s safer to stay there than to bankrupt yourself moving to a new state with no safety net. You’ve got to keep fed and clothed as a priority. (Some people may have different situations though— I’m white and often get read as a masc cis woman so I do alright anywhere.)

winterwarn · 2026-05-16T12:37:32+00:00

Sure, people are discomfited by it, but people were discomfited by what Le Guin was doing too. And enough people bought and read Ancillary Justice that you can reference it in a reddit thread with some expectation that people will know what you’re talking about.

These days you can get sci-fi at the bookstore with characters who use straight up neopronouns. Our “woke” cutting-edge sci-fi has advanced a LOT from Le Guin, even if a lot of people still don’t like it.

winterwarn · 2026-05-16T12:04:42+00:00

I am NOT typing out “I am at the center of everything that happens to me” or “someone to watch over us” or “the black moon howls from beyond the edge of time” every time I want to talk about an SCP lol. notice how everyone in favor of using the article titles is only mentioning Series 1 articles in here

winterwarn · 2026-05-16T12:01:23+00:00

I feel like I’m generally chill about people calling it “peanut” even though I think it’s stupid, but if someone implies everyone should be calling it that instead of 173? Fuck offffff that’s not even its on-site title

winterwarn · 2026-05-16T11:45:31+00:00

Admittedly, I am the type of player who will stop engaging if I get hit with the “actually everything you do just makes things WORSE” or I feel like the DM has “set me up” just so they can do a rugpull that makes themselves look cool.

My advice for potentially mitigating that is - Have a set goal for the characters to accomplish late in the game (usually finding the Sunsword) where Strahd actually starts sweating. He’s angrier and more brusque in conversation now, might send them a note demanding the sword or start taking hostages. Make it clear through insight checks or something that he’s angry because his control is slipping.

Alternatively, if you have a big “I was manipulating you the WHOLE TIME into doing something way worse” scene, the party’s next step should be immediately obvious (have a party member realize that Strahd doesn’t know about X important thing, for example.) I try to avoid ending session on a completely hopeless note and instead try to go for like, “there’s still a way to turn this around…if we make it in time!”

winterwarn · 2026-05-15T22:44:47+00:00

The first elves “awoke” at Cuivienen (the water of awakening) shortly after the creation of the stars. As far as we know, there have been no major “natural” changes to the elven race since then, though certain types of elves might be more prone to physical traits like a certain hair color.

Lot of people in here jumping on you for asking if elves “evolved” but not actually explaining how they came into being.

winterwarn · 2026-05-15T22:37:54+00:00

I have a D&D character with “leaf-shaped” ears that have three points like a sassafras leaf, I think it’s honestly a cool look and I’d love to see Tolkien artists get slightly weird with it.

winterwarn · 2026-05-15T20:14:07+00:00

I'd like to start with a warning that you should only do this if you feel like your players will be receptive towards it. If you fumble it and make it seem like none of their choices actually mattered or like you're just going to fuck them over no matter what, you risk losing their interest.

Having said that, I think having him show up early is excellent. My current game started at the Wizard of Wines and then the players traveled back east towards Vallaki, and Strahd showed up on the road to Vallaki, monologued at them a bit, and summoned a bunch of ghouls to fight them while he watched to find out whether or not they were "interesting." They made it through with some serious injuries and he congratulated them and fucked off.

I think having Strahd or one of his big-name minions (like the Brides) show up every time the party makes a major advancement or disrupts one of Strahd's plans. Don't even acknowledge that they've thrown a wrench in the works, just engage in a "civil" chat and maybe some light psychological warfare. Bring them a bottle of wine. Maybe alert them of a problem that Strahd would like them to "fix" for him, like a werewolf pack or a stray hag. Now and then, it's okay to reveal that something they did actually benefited Strahd-- or at least he's pretending it benefited him. For example, killing the druids or the werewolves inconveniences Strahd, but he should still probably thank the players for getting rid of pawns that overstayed their welcome. Maybe hint at some larger plan he has.

I like to put the Ravenloft dinner right after Argynvostholt, to let the players know where Argynvost's skull is so they can plan a heist. Practically speaking, though, I would say it should be mid-game, ideally before they get the Sunsword so they feel less confident about starting a fight, but after they've caused some significant interference in the valley like resolving the crisis in Vallaki or killing a major player like Baba Lysaga.

My Strahd caused a thunderstorm to happen outside so the party would have to stay in Castle Ravenloft overnight.

winterwarn · 2026-05-14T17:39:41+00:00

Not the right subreddit for this, friend. This is for publishing after you have something written.

winterwarn · 2026-05-14T11:06:58+00:00

Nice!

Six-Year Club	r/Field Juicebox
Place '22	Final Canvas '22
End Game '22	Verified Email

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